Millennials are making waves. As a generation, they are redefining what a successful career is, with a focus on flexible and fulfilling work, and millennials are not afraid to make financial sacrifices in order to stay true to these values. With this in mind, combined with the fact that many millennial men and women are unable to find desirable jobs upon entering the workforce, it’s no surprise that entrepreneurship appeals to many millennials.

Since 2006, TOMS has been a popular name when the discussion turns to brands that support social causes. TOMS' social cause is more than providing footwear -- it includes initiatives to help provide clean water, eyewear, medical procedures and safe births, local jobs, education and training. It's a robust business model that has helped the company achieve success.

It begs the question: In the digital age, do companies need a social cause to thrive?

The advent of cloud storage has surfaced the easiest and most cost-effective data storage options for businesses in recent years. It’s no longer entirely necessary for organizations to invest in resource heavy, on-premise or remote storage space to house data. And that can alleviate a lot of strain on the wallet for a business, especially for small-to-medium companies.

Julie and her husband work full time and are solidly in the middle class. Their paychecks cover their bills and a few extras, and they consider themselves comfortable. But they would spiral into financial ruin if they had any unexpected large expenses, like a medical emergency. That’s because, like many Americans, they have zero money saved.

For some former professional athletes, the hard work and dedication doesn’t end when they decide to retire their number. The world has no shortage of former athletes turned entrepreneurs that made a name for themselves after they’ve left the field. From former-boxer George Foreman’s line of cooking products to Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach’s real estate firm, professional athletes have proven time and again they have the grit and gumption to be successful once their athletic career is over.

So you’ve decided to open a dental office. Congratulations! You are part of a robust community of almost 29 million small-business owners who opened their doors to new customers last year. Although it’s tempting to separate oneself as a dentist rather than a small-business owner, the truth is, the principles necessary to succeed in small business apply to a dental practice as well.

It’s been just over a month since wildfires scorched more than one million acres of Northern California’s wine country, destroying almost 9000 homes, killing 43 people, and changing the lives of its residents forever.

Investing is a gamble. In 2000, Fortune published “10 Stocks to Last the Decade”; by August 2014, the suggested portfolio (which included Enron) had an average return of -59 percent. Hindsight may be 20/20, but that’s not a clarity you can afford when you’re just starting out.

Change can happen in any industry and comes in many forms: political, regulatory, social and technological. Change can be challenging to navigate. It also presents itself as an opportunity for leaders who know how to adapt and recognize it, even when it’s controversial.

How can business leaders spot the difference between courting controversy and gettin

The past decade has felt more like a century in terms of advancements in enterprise computing, networking, virtualization and storage capabilities. From the prominence of Amazon Web Services’ pioneering public cloud platform to the process-unifying concept of DevOps, the exponential growth of these technologies has greatly impacted business’ ability to react, deliver and drive innovation in their industries.

Most companies think of customer service as a necessary cost center that drags down bottom-line profitability. They budget only the minimum required to protect the company’s bottom line and they don't invest in the type of innovation necessary to maintain the company’s competitive advantage over the long term.

Banks have to be careful about how much they lend and to whom. When you ask for a loan, lenders aren’t just seeing you as a risk for their business: You’re a risk for the economy as a whole.

From my experience, I have seen a lot of agencies bootstrap their businesses – either in fear of accumulating debt or a misunderstanding of options. While bootstrapping is safe, it is not the only option. At Fox

If you were to ask any leading salesperson what the key to their success entails, you would probably hear a variety of strategies for many industries. But the one thing they all likely share is an appreciation for building solid, genuine relationships with their customers. Business guru Zig Ziglar once said, “If people like you they will listen to you, but if they trust you they'll do business with you.”

If you want to develop strong relationships with your business owner friends, here are four ways to strengthen those contacts.

As the technology for 3D printing objects advances, we will see it become a more practical, efficient and cost-effective solution for developing our everyday products. With this advancement, we will begin to see a wider array of materials — including plastics, ceramics and metals — that will completely transform the time spent making products and the manner in which businesses sell those products.

Anyone who runs a service-based company understands that the reason a client chooses your service rather than a competitor is because they believe you have something to offer that your competitors don't. They buy into your messaging, your mission, your vision or you as an individual, not because you are more equipped than your competitor, but because they believe in who you are and what you stand for. As Simon Sinek has said, "People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it."

Running an agency can be one of the most complex and rewarding experiences in the business realm. From dealing with siloes and communication breakdowns on individual teams to high-turnover employees rates, profit margins, and difficult clients, you can hope every morning that you won't have to put out any fires that day.

Last October, we took the company to Boston for Inbound, HubSpot's marketing conference. The trip – a reward for our staff for hitting a revenue goal – was intended to allow our employees to learn more about marketing and enjoy Boston.

Future growth plans in the short-term and long-term are not always easily identifiable. Cameron Kriss, President of Best Payroll Services suggests, “You need to take one step back if you want to take two steps forward in business,” and “investing money, time and other resources is absolutely imperative if you want to improve your company’s finances in the long term.”

WHO LIKES HEARING “NO” FOR AN ANSWER? I DON’T AND I’M SURE NEITHER DO YOU.

Think about this in terms of your clients you work with. Clients are your bread and butter, they’re your cash-cow, and they bring in the dough. Which means, let’s make sure we satisfy their every need, right? If you have an unlimited amount of resources, then hell yeah, let’s do it. But if you’re like every other business out there, then that hell yeah can easily turn into… uhhhh, no.